Album Review: BLACKPINK - Born Pink

Despite what Shut Down's opening lines proclaim, Born Pink is very much a comeback for BLACKPINK, after two years without a release, BLACKPINK are once again in your area with a new album.

Pink Venom (Full Review)

Pink Venom has become one of the strangest songs this year. Nauseatingly annoying, but catchy enough to never really die the way you want it to. Indeed, it works wonderfully as a meme, with strange segments one after another. While I really enjoy the raps, the annoying chorus really kills the song's potential.

Rating: 4.75/10

Shut Down

Well, why I could see the growing popularity of classical samples in K-Pop, I did not expect BLACKPINK to sample Paganini. The sample is strange, but it fails to capture the magic of Lizst or the awkward charms of BLACKPINK. While Pink Venom was loud and obnoxious, Shut Down is typical, not providing anything great or terrible, minus those lyrics of course. The end result is a typical Teddy Park song without anything worth remembering.

Rating: 5/10

Typa Girl

What is up with BLACKPINK's lyricists? Seriously, "I'm not like these other girls at all." Typa Girl is trying to scream "cool", but it comes off as pretentious and corporate. Unfortunately, the song is also musically anooying. From the howling sirens to the pretentious delivery, everything here is just annoying.

Rating: 4/10

Yeah Yeah Yeah

After several braggadocio-filled rap tracks, Yeah Yeah Yeah moves things into EDM-Pop, a style increasingly common within pop music. The nostalgic musings of Yeah Yeah Yeah's verses are particularly aligned to my tastes, even if I wish the chorus was willing to go a little further into its pop influences with something other than a drop chorus.

Rating: 7/10

Hard to Love

Naming a song Hard to Love will instantly draw comparisons to Robin Packalen's 2021 EDM anthem of the same name, at least for me, and unfortunately, very few others. This is another road-trip-ready pop song with elements of Doja Cat, but thankfully a little tighter in its chorus composition this time. While I wish the climax exploded in some way, but at least Rose sounds great here.

Rating: 7.25/10

Happiest Girl

Continuing the westernized sounds on the album, Happiest Girl is a dramatic ballad, but I wish the arrangement went a little harder, perhaps leading to an emotional crescendo with strings and more. At least the lyrics are not awful this time.

Rating: 6.75/10

Tally

Tally is another ballad, and it is weaker than Happiest Girl. The guitar beat is nice, but I wish the song was emoted in a more authentic sense. There is only so far you can go far with a melody like this. I didn't even realize the chorus was the chorus when it first came.

Rating: 4.75/10

Ready For Love (Full Review)

One of the only songs in Korean on the album, Ready For Love leaves me asking; who thought that the weird PUBG pre-release CGI 2017 Tropical House song would be the best on the album? Even though it is trendy, its tropical beats recall a time when YG was actually willing to invest in its musical composition for BLACKPINK, even if the melody does recall why this song was likely axed for so long.

Rating: 7.25/10

Cumulative Rating: 5.84/10

Overall Score: 5/10

Purchase BLACKPINK's Born Pink album right here!

Wow, BLACKPINK just might go on in history as one of K-Pop's worst-managed groups. But you cannot deny, YG's starve-and-drop, aim only for America philosophy has begotten, or at least not stopped, BLACKPINK's commercial success. With BLACKPINK's contract renewals coming up, I hope YG is willing to invest more into the group for their success, as there is no denying the talent of these four K-Pop singers and rappers.

Image Source: Kbopped